Drugs and guns seized in Limerick feud raid

LIMERICK gardaí yesterday mounted an extensive offensive in the gang stronghold of St Mary’s Park.

Scores of armed and uniformed members of the force swarmed into the estate at about 3pm.

It was the first significant operation involving the Emergency Response Unit since it was deployed to the city last Friday in response to a machine-gun attack in St Mary’s Park.

Some of the houses raided yesterday were targeted in that attack.

Members of the Collopy family were the intended targets in that shooting.

Speaking after the raids, Supt John Kerin disclosed that more than 60 officers were involved.

Heroin worth €92,000 and cocaine with a street value of €4,000 along with a rifle and ammunition were recovered.

The finds were made in areas adjacent to houses. There were no arrests.

Weighing scales and other items used in packaging drugs were also found.

The homes of members of the Collopy family in St Mary’s Park were targeted in the drive-by shooting.

Six houses were raked by automatic gunfire but luckily nobody was hurt although one woman had a narrow escape when bullets hit a wall near where she was sitting.

Gardaí suspect the attack was an attempt by the McCarthy-Dundon gang to lure members of the Collopy family into a high-speed chase and then ambush them.

Justice Minister Brian Lenihan, on a visit to Limerick last Friday, described the situation as being a “tinderbox” and said it was poisoning life in the city.

Yesterday’s operation was carried out amid rising feud tensions in the city.

Gardaí feared a retaliation attack against the McCarthy-Dundon gang, which has members in all the main council estates except St Mary’s Park, which is Keane-Collopy territory.

A foremost figure in the Keane-Collopy grouping, Christy Keane, was jailed for 10 years in 2002 when he was found moving a large quantity of drugs in St Mary’s Park. With remission, he should be due for release next year.

His brother, Kieran Keane, was murdered by five McCarthy-Dundon gang members in 2003.

The McCarthy-Dundon gang have made a number of attempts to lure one particular member of the Collopy family into a death trap.

In another incident, the home of an elderly widow in nearby St Colmcille Street was attacked by a gunman on Sunday morning. She was taken to hospital suffering from shock.